Knuckles made a dive for the chair, but missed it and fell to the ground with a thump. Mecha-Sonic laughed at his manuver, and did not see Espio sneaking up behind him, because he blended in with the background... "Roboticize Sonic, will you?" Espio growled. He grabbed the robot's arms, and threw him to the ground. None of the Chaotix had been paying any attention to the roboticizer. An explosion shook the walls of the fortress as a roboticized version of Sonic burst from the roboticizer. He shot a flames from his chest at Espio, who was about to dismantle the Mecha-Sonic sitting on the floor, but decided that was best left for another time when he saw a fireball heading straight for him. "Yikes!" Espio shouted, and dove out of the way just in time. Mighty jumped up and slammed "the real" Mecha-Sonic across the room. "I wouldn't try that again," he said, "unless `Great Balls of Fire' is your favorite oldie." T.R. (the real) Mecha-Sonic sputtered and fumed. "YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT, ARMADILLO!!!" he rasped, and got up quickly. "What he said," Charmy yelled, sticking his tongue out at T.R.Mecha-Sonic and giving him the finger. Charmy flew towards T.R.Mecha-Sonic, but was not fast enough. T.R.Mecha-Sonic slashed his claws through the air, sending Charmy crashing into the opposite wall. "YOU PUNKS ARE BEGINNING TO ANNOY ME," T.R.Mecha-Sonic said to the Chaotix, and pressed a button on the wall nearby. "Yeah, go and join the rest of the slime," T.F. (the fake) Mecha-Sonic yelled to them, picking himself up off the floor. "Waddaya mean, slliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimme?!!!!!" Knuckles cried as a trapdoor opened beneath his and the Chaotix's feet. "Oof!" Knuckles cried as he and the Chaotix hit hard ground. "W-where are we?" Vector said as he looked around and saw a place indeed full of slime. "Yechh, I don't know," Charmy said disgustedly, brushing off the mud which covered his wings. He jumped when he heard someone--or something--moan. "What was that?" he cried. "Could be the `slime' Mecha-Sonic's keeping here," Mighty exclaimed, walking towards the direction of the noise. "You guys stay here," he said, "I'll be right back." He ran down a long corrider, stumbling upon several pools of filthy water and bottomless pits as he went. He knew he must be getting close to whatever was making the noise. Mighty ran down another short passageway and tripped over something green. "Yooooooooooooooff!" Mighty cried as he fell to the ground. "SHIT!" he yelled, clutching his bloody nose. "Who-?" "Watch where you're goin' there, man," said a voice. Mighty cried out and turned in the direction it came from. There he saw 3 foot tall bipedal lizard, with red spines covering his back and tail, and orange hair covering most of his head. "Huh? Are you talkin' to me?" "Yeah, I'm talkin' to ya," the lizard said. "I wanna know what an armadillo like yourself is doin' down here." "Well, it was that asshole Mecha-Sonic's fault," Mighty answered. "Who are you, anyway?" "Call me Arcade," the lizard answered. "Arcade?" "Yeah, is there somethin' wrong with my name?" Arcade said, feeling hurt. "Do ya not like it, or what?" "What I don't like is Mecha-Sonic," Mighty answered. "He's just roboticized *the* premeire freedom fighter, Sonic the hedgehog." "He has, has he?" Arcade growled, grinding his teeth. "The dickhead was keepin' me down here so he could roboticize me later, too. He hasn't yet, as you can see..." "And he's never going to, Arcade," Mighty said, putting a reasurring hand on Arcade's shoulder. "We'll stop him, won't we?" "Who's `we'?" "I'll tell you later," Mighty said. "Right now we got a planet to save!" "Can I help?" "You betcha." Arcade and Mighty walked down the corriders until they found Knuckles and the Chaotix. "Hiya, Knuxy boy," Mighty exclaimed. "This is Arcade." "Well, it's about *time* you got back," Knuckles exclaimed. "Do you know how long you've been gone?" "Err, no, why?" "The Chaotix and I have been waiting here for almost an hour!" Knuckles shouted. Clearly he was not impressed Mighty found a new friend. "Hey, relax," Arcade piped up. "Mighty and I aren't as fast as Sonic, you know, Mr., err--" "Knuckles," Knuckles said. "Then you know Sonic?" Knuckles said, surprised. "You know we have to save him?" "Know him?" Arcade exclaimed. "Our parents were good friends when we were little, so we got to see each other alot. Treated each other like brothers, we did. At least, we did, til that asshole Robotnik came along and roboticized half the planet. Sonic and I were able to escape, but our parents weren't...." Arcade paused, tears in his eyes. "We were trying to get Sonic's brother, Ashura, to come with us, but he was captured by Robotnik, and nobody really knows what happened to him...." "Well, Arcade..." Knuckles said, "you know we have to stop Mecha-Sonic, before he can...." "I know, I know," Arcade said, "can't let him continue Robotnik's work. I shouldn't have to lose any more family members, and neither should any of you." He gestured to the Chaotix. "Right," Knuckles said, "let's go out there and kick some Mecha-Sonic ass!" "But, Knuckles," Vector said, "how are we gonna get out of here?" "Easy," Knuckles answered. "Oh, Charmy!" "Alright, I'll fly you guys up there," Charmy croaked, groaning, "but you have to *promise* me you'll never ask me to again!" "Fine, I promise," Knuckles said quickly. Charmy was amazingly strong. He hoisted up Knuckles and Arcade (through the trapdoor T.R.Mecha-Sonic had left open) at the same time, then wasted no time in getting Espio and Mighty up also. Finally he went down for Vector. Knuckles and the Chaotix about as quiet as a jet airplane. They had noticed T.F.Mecha-Sonic sitting in his chair, and at that point, Knuckles had warned the group to be quiet, when Vector danced around to his music, and banged into a broken `bot sitting in the corner. T.F.Mecha-Sonic heard, turned around, and called, "Oh, Sonic! We have more slime to deal with!" TO BE CONTINUED.... Video Arcade Part 2 of the Total Chaotix series. While wandering around below Mecha-Sonic's fortress for quite some time, Mighty finds a lost lizard named Arcade. He tells his story of when he was young and used to know Sonic. Knuckles has a bit of difficulty trusting him, but gladly adds him to the Chaotix. Meanwhile, Sonic has been roboticized and the Chaotix are about to battle him and his controller for control of Mobius... By Elaine will Ashura the hedgehog will be featured in some upcoming stories, don't worry. Expect them your way in the near future!